The foundation of the Maya Angelou Research Center for Healthy Communities is community partnerships. As a central connector, we bring together a wide network of partners, aligning shared goals and collective expertise. Building on the proven success of community-engaged research across Advocate Health Wake Forest School of Medicine, we strengthen our center's capacity to advance meaningful community partnerships.
Collaborative programs
Metropolitan Village
- Community-driven effort spearheaded by MARCH, OCEIRA and the United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church
- MARCH @Metro embeds community engagement, research, and care into everyday life, serving as a trusted access point between the community and the health system.
- By fostering community-informed health services and research collaborations, it improves access to care, research, and clinical trials.
- Ongoing feedback strengthens trust and partnerships, while the platform pilots and scales innovative approaches—creating a scalable blueprint for other communities across the enterprise.
Faith-Inspired Healthy Communities Research Collaborative (FIRE)
Where faith meets evidence to strengthen community health.
A partnership of MARCH, OCEIRA, and the COMPASS program in the School of Divinity.
Core Objectives
- Promote Faith-Rooted Collaboration
- Cultivate authentic partnerships between faith communities and academic institutions to leverage shared values and lived experiences in research initiatives.
- Accelerate Community-Engaged Discovery to Improve Health Outcomes
- Using evidence-based strategies that are deeply rooted in the lived experiences of faith communities, FIRE will drive the development of solutions that are culturally relevant and spiritually grounded through community co-creation, translating knowledge into meaningful improvements in health and wholeness.
- Build Research Capacity
- Provide training and support for researchers and faith community members to build capacity for conducting high-quality, impactful research at the intersection of faith and health.
Neighborhood Narratives
Community Insights on How Neighborhoods Affect Health
A partnership of MARCH and OCEIRA.
Aims
- To elicit community perspectives on how neighborhood social vulnerability is connected to health overall and the development of chronic diseases.
- To understand community perceptions about how health care access and primary care institutions may modify the relationship between neighborhood social vulnerability and health outcomes.